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Woodstock Riot Photos Pulled from Web

Woodstock Riot Photos Pulled from Web

After much hubbub, the New York State Police Department has removed
from its Web site the news photos of Woodstock '99 that had been
posted in hopes of catching rioters and other criminals.| The shots
came down last Friday -- only a week after the first set of photos
had gone up -- and were replaced by photos taken by state
employees.

Last week, the NYSPD's posting of photos from news sources like the
Associated Press and Syracuse Online raised the ire of media
organizations far and wide, who complained that the police
department's appropriation of the shots not only constituted
copyright infringement, but also a dangerous blurring of the line
between journalism and law enforcement.

But, despite the pressure being exerted by those news outlets, the
police department insists that the photos were only removed because
they were no longer generating useful leads. "They just outlived
their usefulness," said State Police spokesperson Lieut. Jamie
Mills, who explained that the shots had generated about forty
leads, but that none of those leads had brought about an
arrest.

"We're obviously very pleased that the photos have been removed
from the Web site," said Vincent Alabiso, Vice President and
Executive Photo Editor for the Associated Press. "And we are
certainly committed to vigorously pursuing anything where our
pictures are used in an unauthorized manner."